One of the things that makes carpet laying difficult is the fact that in stretching the carpet one must drag his own weight along the floor. To overcome this difficulty the arrangement shown in Fig. 269 may be used This consists in bracing the carpet stretcher against the opposite wall of the room in such a way that the operator can stand to one side and by depressing the brace cause the carpet to be stretched with a powerful toggle leverage. The brace must of course be adjustable so that it can be used in rooms of different sizes. It consists of two strips of wood, 1 1/2 inches thick, 4 inches wide, and 8 feet long. The strips are connected by means of a pair of 3/8-inch bolts which pass through holes spaced 4 inches apart along the length of the strips. In order to prevent marring the baseboard at the opposite side of the room the end of the brace should be padded with cloth, as shown. In the case of a room that is too wide for this brace an extension board may be laid on the floor against the base board and the end of the brace abutted against this extension board. The manner of operating the carpet stretcher is clearly shown in Fig. 269. The carpet stretcher is so powerful that if not properly operated it will draw out the tacks from the opposite side of the room.

Fig. 269 - Bracing the carpet stretcher against the opposite wall.